Council's notes on Humanity
by 5 Coloured Walker
Summary: This is the Citadel Codex as it applies to Humans in the [TBD] world, who's current stories include: Busy Stars This however is not the codex of general things however, not is it human's documentation on aliens.
1. On Humanity and AIs

_'I damn near had a heart attack when I found out they had AI's. Finding out that one groups was like the Geth was maddening… When I found out the others weren't understood, I called it a year and came within 30 seconds of handing in my resignation .'_

_Councillor Tevos, Thoughts on Humanity_

**What are ByteGeists and Sighs?**

Humanities currently less known AIs are known as Sighs. Sighs were AI's taken from captured Ethereal computers, or being copies of said AIs. Known formally as Ethereal-Artificial-Intelligences, or in frustration Ethereal-Stupid-Artificial-Inteligences, it's been reduced by slang over the years into the common form of Sighs [though EAI's is still used where they can observe], based on the sound commonly made when humans use them for overly complex tasks or tell them to go away.

One might wonder, rightfully so, what Sighs are considered AIs if they are so stupid? It's been found in testing that they can adapt when they want to, but they normally don't and are fine acting as little more than high quality VIs. Humans believe that this may be a coping mechanism as far as the Sighs go, believing that due to their trauma at the hands of the Ethereal race, they've become rather non-reactive, but are too well trained to not follow orders… And given that no one has any way of understanding their coding, and the Sighs refuse to answer any question as to their history with Ethereals that may well be the case.

Knowing this, you now likely wondering why they're allowed near anything, because while apathetic, they could be dangerous one day.

The simple answer is that they're not. They're kept for research or collating data to act on before people or even VIs can, allowing faster reaction times, however they're not hooked up directly to anything that could be dangerous, meaning they can, at worst, lie. However they have over 80 years of history of being nothing but truthful, so Humanity is loathe to give them up.

Additionally, every now and again in the past humans tried to psychoanalyse or in some other way help Sighs, or connect one to the internet through a filter to prevent them from escaping. One however has escaped into the Extranet due to laxness, it has not been recovered or even located, and has offered no known communication with anyone.

The Geth, as a race of AI's, are a group of sophisticated programs that are freely self-modifying and network together providing a semi-illusion [for at once they are non-sapient, and very very sapient] of sapience, directed by group decisions and programmed desires. The problem, as it was seen, is that they are freely self-modifying; they have no limits beyond those they choose to have… Fortunately it turned out they self-imposed many limits.

This brings us to ByteGeists… You would describe them with the same paragraph, but they were created deliberately, no one removed a line that prevented self-modification to certain areas by accident, and while designed to optimise themselves in their network, there are hard limits to what they can do. And they weren't attacked when they were determined to be self-aware.

**Capabilities:**

Sighs are considered to be equivalent to VIs, if it were to come from over 100 years into the future, be Salarian designed, and attached to Elcor mainframes and technically be an AI. They react faster than is possible by non-artificial sapients, up to the limit of the machines they're on, and are really useful in handling large amounts of data.

ByteGeists on the other hand, are considered to be equal to Geth in the period before their uprising and after they achieved sapience, but have direction, instead of being seemingly content being inactive. One could consider them to be like idiot savants, thinking many times faster than people, but being overly literal and, were they slowed to Salarian thinking speeds, dumb except in their area of expertise, but not quite reaching the height of genius.

Of course, in human combat frames only overwhelming force, modern Elcor VIs, Asari commandos and older Krogan combatants are able to reliably beat them on near equal terms, though achieving those terms is nearly impossible.

**Role in Society:**

Sighs used to be common in Alliance society, used for research and data analyses. After joining the Council formally as an associate member, almost all were deleted, with some being kept for what they may know, though they are kept in an inactive state.

ByteGeists as used by the Remnant are fairly ubiquitous. And while the Remnant is allowed an embassy on the Council [more to keep an eye on them than anything else], it's telling that the phrase 'As likely to budge on AI's as Turians are to become a race of strippers' is used to refer to the situation diplomatically.

And to their faces.

**Humanity-Geth interaction:**

Alliance humanity has not interacted with the Geth in any way, shape or form.

Remnant humanity has not been caught interacting with the Geth in any way, shape, or form. They are however commonly accused of such or questioned as to such, their public response is 'We find it obvious based on their actions that the Geth want to be left alone. We've no reason to waste our time annoying them like telemarketers just because we don't hate them.'.

The Salarians have yet to prove otherwise has otherwise through espionage, and the relays into their territory are not used by Remnant humanity, though a human group from the Traverse did attempt the trip and was turned back.


	2. On Humanity and 'Adapter' Augmentations

**AN:**

After reading this some of you may look on at me and call me a hypocrit for removing AIs and Neural Uploads from X-Coms table while handing them this.

Please read to the end and then it's authors note first.

* * *

_"We have one word for fighting X-Com, specifically being the organisation as it remains known among the human's who fled to colonize Renebus, known as the Remnant._

_Don't."_

_Paraphrased from military manuals throughout council space. The other version is with three words, being 'With Heavy Artillery.', or disregarded as being Baatarian propaganda._

**The development of human genetic modification.**

Humans have held interest in genetic modification since they first thought of it, however it has [Beyond breeding programs, and even then.] deemed impractical for a number of reasons, and only became possible among the people of the Alliance shortly before it became a member of the Council, by which stage it had become limited to being 'The best of nature.'. Though some will note quite loudly that the exact nature of 'Thin-Men' and Mutons is unknown, and point to their invasion formas as their 'best of nature', claiming it to be 'uncertain as to whether the results were gained through accelerated breeding programs or genetic modification.' Thus far, the council allows Humans to 're-aug' Mutons and 'Thin-Men' in exchange for a level of restraint in the attacks that are 'completely unconnected pirates and terrorist actions' where Baatarian Hegemony is involved.

However this wasn't so for the Remenant, as the alliance controlled from Renebus is known.

Ever since Docter Vahlen learned of what MELD could do, and thought of her more biology inclined friends, she looked to MELD to advance the human race through active genetic modification.

Of course, anyone who approves in the use of untested technology to modify their soldiers using genes both tested and not is a lunatic, and Doctor Vahlen wasn't stupid enough to suggest such a thing. Though she came close when X-Com forces found Ethereal's instructions for the use of MELD for genetic modification in assaults on EXALT, while still a stupid idea at the time, the idea of creating super soldiers [Albeit under tight controls.] was permanently placed in X-Com's mind.

**The beginnings of Remnant genetic modification.**

On Earth, MELD quickly became a scarce resource, but would be researched to create far lesser nanites, on Renebus however, humanity found an Ethereal treasure trove beyond imagining, with one of the treasures being MELD bio-factories.

Before the second contact war, humans had experimented with genetic manipulation, with examples ranging from food genetically optimised for a purpose, or moving around legs on a fly to prove they could. With Humanities ability to create organisms using MELD, they could test the sequences given by the Ethereals to EXALT and in some cases refine them, while gene-sequencing various Renebus creatures and figuring out what alleles did what in both Renebus, Earth, and other alien organisms.

And then transhumanism through mechanical augmentation would began to be considered unfeasable due to the inability to truly upload and turn oneself into a nigh-AI, so scientists began desplaying the results of RDAIGM [**R**apid-Display **A**ge-**I**ndependent **G**enetic **M**odification, occasionally called Rodago].

And then scientists when on and cured ageing by managing to figure out what genes caused the body to deliberately improperly copy DNA such to remove telomeres and then damage DNA. Even before having discovered how to reverse ageing genetic modification, having been decided on as legal, quickly became popular, if highly monitored.

**The current state of Remnant genetic modification.**

The remnant hasn't joined the council, and as such haven't had to give up genetic modification as they have done. And... Well, while aesthetic alterations are common [And it makes certain fetishes easier to spot.], the true extent of Remnant genetic modification ability is found in it's military, because even while Remnant sponsored pirates have more self tailored modifications, they are always of a lesser ability.

And in there military...

Salarian's reflexes can only be matched with certain animals or the highest end combat platforms controlled by Elcor VI's, Human AI's, or Geth.

Vorcha regenration? Krogan strength? If humanity wanted it, it was on the table, as long as they could make it so their body didn't tear itself apart, and they've been very careful in finding and falling short of those limits.

While many mods are restricted to the military, the biological military of Renebus [for much of it is dominated by AI driven platforms, and lots of dead man switches] outperforms the military of all races through genetics, with the lone exception of Asari biotics. The only thing they lack however is high speed regeneration of the Vorcha, and that's because they don't want to risk their soldiers burning out unless they'd have otherwise died.

Renebus' finest are biological supersoldiers, backed with the best technology that can be provided… Or are in training while their gear gets to them. One will note, that despite opportunity, the only limb added to Human soldiers is a muscular tail, that as normally hidden with armor.

One additional note about Human genetic modification is the note as to regeneration and Human lifespan. Renebus' scientists have discovered all the factors that result in the deliberate improper DNA replication that causes telomerase shortening, and have removed them. This means that the people of Renebus and it's colonies have lifespans that are only matched by the Krogan, however there is no one in their population who is older than 180 as of yet, with soldiers having a maximum of 50 years active combat experience against sentients outside of training.

However, with those years of active combat experience and training, on AI driven combat platforms have a greater than 50% chance at winning in a 1-1 fight. In an example of combat prowwess, ex-X-Com corporal Zaeed Massani once challenged Wrex Urdnot to a one on one duel, where he would fight in nothing but his underwear and unarmed [loosing his psionics and biotics advantage], in exchange for Wrex forgoing biotics beyond 20 centimeters of his body and using his normal combat equipment, with a starting distance of 500m in open terrain.

Zaeed won at the expense of breaking his eft arm in 15 places, minor internal bruising across almost all organs, and minor internal bleeding, as well as exhausting himself so much he had to spend a week in the infirmary. He broke other bones and had other severe injureis, but everything else was repaired by the time he was taken to the infirmary.

* * *

AN: If you didn't rage slightly at that last part, I'm a little surprised.

I'm not sure if I'll do that scene justice when it comes time for it, but I promise I'll do my best.

As to why I've given X-Com this [and later, some robots you're not going to like], X-Com is small. And as far as it's land military goes, it uses aircraft and ridiculous amounts of compact fire power to win fights where it wishes to restrain from orbital bombardment, X-Com soldiers are expected to have to take on tanks, potentially alone, and given the state of the galaxy, always severely outnumbered unless it has a unusual amount of robots on the field of battle. But X-Com is quick to resort to orbital bombardment.

So, yea. X-Com gets this instead of AI's as we can imagine them because these men can break armies, not make it so the world can't be imagined as it should be, and these guys are so outnumbered it's not funny and won't see use unless you can convince them that bombing from orbit isn't a good idea, and they've done lots of planning as to bombing from orbit.

Oh, and I'm upping the threat level of ancient Krogan, Asari, and Geth who fight like they should. That part's important.


	3. Historical: H-A Interogations: 2CW-CE

**Human-Alien Interrogations during and post the Second Contact War**

Imagine needing to quickly extract information from an Alien species with no known common bases other than body shape, and how you would go about it.

And then apply that to a species that lacks a mouth, and due to security risks have to be killed or kept unconscious under sedation.

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Until Humanity discovered that the Sectoids were just part of an invading conglomerate, this was what the Alliance faced, with the live capture of a Muton, there was hope of communication in the distant future… And then the Alliance captured a 'Thin-Man' successfully, and after that, managed to break the hold of the Ethereals over one.

X-Com [And it's new iteration, Cerberus], is authorised to do anything it wants to 'Aggressive Non-Human species', which allowed for torture to try and secure any actionable information, or in truth any information at all from the aliens they captured, and with the capture of aliens that spoke human languages, some would say this was gleefully put to use until some thin-men could be coopted, where they were also used in the interrogation of alien species.

Eventually, Human psionics were discovered, and mind links [Now known as Mind-Melds] became the new interrogation standard, until finally after the war Mind Taps were refined based on the Gollop Sphere.

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Currently, the Commisarant and X-com/Cerberus both use mind taps as their main interrogation tool, as they offer a guaranteed means of accessing the subjects mind without restraint if used appropriately, however understanding the results may take time. For faster interrogations, invasive Mind Melds are used, however information extracted through these melds is considered suspect, as the meld can be resisted in a variety of fashions. Due to laws, these interrogation methods are neither admissible, nor seen as breaches of privacy outside of Human, Asari or [Some] Terminus systems, and are supported due to lack of physical and psychological harm.


	4. Psionics

**Psionics**

**Overview**

Much like organic Mass/Gravatic manipulation [Biotics] is an as of yet incompletely-explained phenomena that allows organics to manipulate the world around them with just their mind, Psionics is another method allowing organics to alter reality to their whim.

Known to exist in a handful of species, Psionics allowed the manipulation of reality and other's minds through currently nearly completely unexplained phenomena. As of yet, it's known to be linked to genetics, and it's known that some materials [None of which can be created as of yet.] can be psionic, however beyond that the only science that can be applied to it is a ranking of strengths and ability.

There are 6 currently known species that have expressed psionics-

\- The Zudjari: I migrant race that invaded Earth in Humanities first contact invasion.

\- The Ethereals: A relatively unknown race that invaded Earth in Humanities second contact war.

\- The Sectoids: A Ethereal and Zudjari slave race, found to be incapable of truly sapient thought without direction in most 'strains'. Sectoid brain matter is regularly cloned in Remnant space, but otherwise Sectoids exist only as slaves to the above races.

\- The Mutons: A Ethereal slave race, some members of which live in the Alliance. 73% of Mutons display low level empathy and psionic sensitivity to some degree, and Alliance geneticists managed to alter Mutons to become weak psions with some difficulty. Due to Council Genetic Engineering laws, there are few psionic Mutons in existence, and their children will not be psionic.

\- Asari: Asari are 99% Sub-Alpha [A class created just for the Asari race] psions, all being psionically sensitive and capable of contact-willing-melds, which can be used for breeding. They also have a low level field of influence which increases in strength as they grow older. Some Asari, with training can use their psionic to assist their biotics or to display weak abilities, however only a handful have risen above Alpha class.

\- Humanity: Humanity showed psionic ability shortly after the first contact invasion in a few cases. After the second contact war, roughly 80% of people in Alliance space are classed psionically sensitive or latent psions, however it's considered unwise to 'activate' everyone as a psion for a variety of reasons that is still in debate today. Nearly 100% of Remnant citizens are psionically active.

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**Psionic Technology**

There are few samples of psionic technology, at present it's known that many Protheon artefacts are psionic, as are Ethereal artefacts, some of which can be recreated [I.e. Gollop Spheres].

There are three known human technologies that rely on psionics, Art-Psi packs in Remnant space, Gollop Spheres, and Mind-Taps:

The construction and creation of modern mindtaps comes from a modification of 'Gollop Stone' materials taken from Ethereals, the method of manufacture being rather publicised across Citadel and Terminus space, though it is officially illegal to use and inadmissible as evidence outside of Asari and Human Space, however some Terminus warlords do make use of them.

Art-Psi packs are a heavily classified technology, no one can produce them outside of Remnant space, and they are not exported.

Gollop Spheres are Ethereal constructions that can be used for extremely long distance psionic communication and for the boosting of psionic ability, their construction is well documented, however they are only regularly produced in Human territory and Asari territory, though if the Asari are to be believed, it's only for the production of Mind-Taps which are considered to be a pass fad, given the species universal ability to Meld psionically.


	5. A Human Invention: Combi-Weapons

**Combi-Weapons**

Humanity initially ignored Mass Effect in regards to weaponry except for larger rail weapons and for lightening otherwise unusable weapons to make what would be considered light mounted artillery to be man portable and usable by a single individual, however after their induction as an associate race of the Council, Humanity quickly began designing weapons based off the observed principles.

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Early weapons were normally rail weapons, launching small thin steel rods which were renowned for their armour penetration, however ammo restrictions caused these to be phased out, though they have been adopted by some sniper style weapons. However the truly ingenious thing about these rail rifles, was that they sacrificed the ability to compact themselves for a faster cooling method often sneered at, and the ability to fit a second weapon within the first.

Human Combi-Weapons are almost universally duo-weapons, with a main and underslung weapon. When cooling or otherwise not in use, the weapons shell will spread out, and other parts will also be moved to increase air flow for cooling, at the cost of exposing the inner workings of the weapon [A weak ME field keeps dust out, in theory.], while also preventing heat from bleeding through to it so that both weapons overheat at the same time.

However, these two weapon combinations come at a significant cost, that can't easily be accounted for. The combination of the two weapons means the inner working must be rather compact, and sacrifices must be made either in the weapons power, accuracy, or reliability, as smaller but less powerful methods are used, or on-board computers are stripped, or back up components and protections are stripped from the weapon. Alliance military hardware sacrifices accuracy [Teach the soldiers to aim, not the gun.], while most commercial models sacrifice reliability.

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Other Races almost universally stick to single-style weapons, or have underslung laser/plasma weapons as attachments that work in an anti-armour role, normally firing one or two shots before requiring the entire weapon to cool down. This is due to analysis that finds laser weapons to be of little use in an age of ceramic armours, and plasma mostly useless due to kinetic barriers, as such these under barrel weapons are used solely for heavily armoured targets, or in 'Death or Glory' style attacks, where you only have the time for one or two shots because by such time you'll either be dead, or engaged in CQC.

* * *

**AN:**

TL;DR: Council Races use combi-weapons like modern armies use underslung grenade launchers, the Alliance uses it like two slightly weaker riffles strapped together [Somehow made ergonomic and functional, while making it so the two don't work at the same time… Perhaps like a double barrelled low calibre rifle with two magazines, which requires a lot of fiddling to fire both barrels at the same time. Of course, in this case it's not as useless as that idea would be.].


	6. Alliance Special Forces Equipment

**STG Report to the Citadel Council:**

This is a copy of Candidate Vakarian's report to Spectre Bau as to the Alliance's Special Forces equipment.

No schematics were obtainable, but specifications are linked through the weapon name hyper-links. Items of particular note are underlined.

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**General Note:**

One notable difference between N7 and standard Alliance weaponry is their use of small scale Ethereal-Derived cooling and power systems, originally developed alongside their plasma weapons. This allows their Rail and Laser weaponry to achieve much higher energies in their outputs and before needing to cool. For example, the N7 Valkyrie is based on the standard 'Split Jaw' pattern, yet despite the Avenger's lack of power and only average heat tolerances this weapon achieves power on par with the Hierarchy Phaeston and slightly higher heat tolerances.

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**Primary Weapons:**

\- N7 Valkyrie:

o Type: 'Split Jaw' Automatic Assault Rifle.

o Standard Loadout: Kinetic Rail, Red Heat Laser.

o Notable Features- Lack of Under-Rail, both 'Jaws' can be fired concurrently.

o Common Modifications: Infra-Red laser modification, Under Barrel Grenade Launcher, 2X Holographic Scope.

o Equivalent Weapons: Two Phaeston Assault Rifles.

o Prevalence: Common.

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\- N7 Crusader:

o Type: Semi-Automatic Shotgun/Sniper Rifle.

o Standard Load out: Kinetic Rail. Not available in other load outs.

o Notable Features- HUD Linked Smart-Choke and Ammo Shredder system. Sniper accuracy in single shot mode, which can be quickly changed to various levels of shotgun spread, including multiple fragments with sniper-like range. HUD link scope is often used by designated marksman to 'hipsnipe', aiming roughly at a target before magnifying them on their HUD, using the computer calculated crosshairs to snipe their targets.

o Common Modifications: Infra-Red laser modification, Under Barrel Pulse Laser, 2-32X HUD-linked Holographic Scope.

o Equivalent Weapons: A M-300 Claymore, M-22 Eviscorator, M92-Mantis with multi-shot capacity.

o Prevalence: Uncommon.

\- N7 Valiant:

o Type: Semi-Automatic 'Split Jaw' pattern Sniper Rifle.

o Standard Load out: UV Heat Laser with inbuilt automatic Kinetic Rail 'panic' weapon.

o Notable Features- X-Ray Laser Modification.

o Common Modifications: X-Ray laser modification, Under Barrel Grenade Launcher.

o Equivalent Weapons: M92-Mantis with multi-shot capacity, Single Barrel M-4 Shuriken.

o Prevalence: Very Uncommon.

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\- N7 Reaper: 

o Type: Sniper Rifle.

o Standard Load out: Sustained Heavy Metal Particle Beam. Not available in other load outs.

o Notable Features: See attached notes.

o Common Modifications: None.

o Equivalent Weapons: None.

o Prevalence: Black Ops.

\- This weapon was revealed almost by accident, and it's most distinctive features being it's stream of heavy metal ions launched in beam thinner than is visible by all species, launched at speeds unmatched by other particle rifles. It however comes at the cost of heat capacity, capping out at .7 seconds of sustained fire under the safety limiter, with a maximum record of 1.3 seconds.

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However, this weapon is an Black op's weapon, the beams size and duration made me question it's use, however in simulation it's able to pass through most visors and through the head before Kinetic-Barriers can activate to disable the beam, with it's imparted charge is too low to pre-emptively disable the barrier. I've attached a file of assassinations possibly carried out by this weapon. You will note such figures as Matriach L'Kol on the list.

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**Secondary Weapons:**

\- N7 Hurricane:

o Type: 'Split Jaw' Sub-Machine Gun.

o Standard Load out: Duel Kinetic Rail.

o Notable Features: Small size for a 'Split Jaw' weapon, both 'Jaws' can be fired concurrently.

o Common Modifications: Infra-Red laser modification for secondary 'Jaw'.

o Equivalent Weapons: M-9 Tempest, made as 'Split Jaw' instead of alternating barrel.

o Prevalence: Uncommon.

**.**

\- N7 Eagle:

o Type: Automatic Pistol.

o Standard Load out: Kinetic Rail.

o Notable Features:  Military Assault Rifle energy outputs [But not tolerances.].

o Common Modifications: Infra-Red laser modification for secondary 'Jaw'.

o Equivalent Weapons: Hierarchy Phaeston with 3/5th heat tolerance.

o Prevalence: Common

**Support Weapons:**

\- N7 Typhoon:

o Type: 'Split Jaw' Light-Machine Gun.

o Standard Load out: Kinetic Rail and Red Heat Laser.

o Notable Features:  Oversized Eezo core to assist with aiming and stability.

o Common Modifications: Body shield or Holographic Scope and Under barrel Grenade Launcher. Infra-Red laser for second 'Jaw'.

o Equivalent Weapons: Upgraded M-76 Revenant.

o Prevalence: Uncommon.

**.**

\- N7 Cain:

o Type: Single-Barrel Anti-tank Weapon.

o Standard Load out: Equally common as Kinetic Rail and Sustained Heat Laser [Red].

o Notable Features: Oversized Eezo core allowing for a larger weapon.

o Common Modifications: Holographic Scope.

o Equivalent Weapons: Upgraded ML-77 Anti-Tank weapon.

o Prevalence: Uncommon.

o Name: Gained from the Able MEC chassis. 'Able to do anything. Yea, Able had a brother who killed him, this is his brother.'

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**Armour:**

The current iteration of standard N firaxite powered armour is called Archangel Armour, with non-firaxite N Armour not having it's own name among N7s, being dismissed as 'Re-branded Onyx Armour' outside of requisitions, where it's simply called N Armour. On inspection such holds true, while Onyx Armour is military grade ceramic armour which utilises a civilian power suit, N Armour utilises a military grade power suit in addition to slightly increased shielding and a better computer.

Archangel Armour is largely unchanged from both the Second Contact War and the Third Contact War. On-Board Omni-Tools have gotten more advanced and the suits' Jetpack system has been reduced to make room for a Kinetic Barrier, with the rest being removable to make room for an even larger one. One recent development is the application 'Plasma Blade Magnetic Channelling', to the suits arm jets, allowing the creation of plasma blades using the suit's smaller jets on the arm [Which are rarely used and often overlooked.], By reversing the intake and outtake so as to only provide extra propulsion in 'Iron Man Stance', PBMCing can be applied to create a short lived plasma blade.

The blade quickly cools as more plasma cannot be pumped into the channel, giving it a lifetime of 10 seconds, with each successful 'swing' taking roughly 3 seconds off it's lifespan. The Channel is then manipulated to create a short burst of cooling plasma at the wearers discreasion, acting like a flame thrower. Additionally, it is sometimes used as a flamethrower deliberately.

More than a few personal have performed 'Light Sabre' duels with the cooling channels, and one was shown to me. This however is considered entertainment and none of the techniques are used in actual fighting, as the weapon is only truly useful in life or death situations where shields are already down, and in surprise attacks, with the preferred fighting method being a stab where surprise is possible, or using simply activating the jet to use as a plasma thrower.

Additionally, suits can come with an inbuilt mind-tap to assist in controlling the suit. This is rarely used for fears of hacking compromising not just the suit but the wearer, however those that do use it gain increased reaction time, superior reflexes and better aim, as the suit can determine both exactly what is desired and begin moving before the users muscles do. However this speed is limited by the need to not kill the wearer. Archangel armour is never automated, despite the possibility to do so.

**Drone Support:**

The Alliance makes little use of the common Micro-Drone, preferring to fabricate such drones on demand. Their drones are normally equipped with a weak laser and project a light blue hologram.

The Alliance's Main drone is the SHIV, which can be remote controlled or automated. The current design is a compact version of the 2nd Contact War Hover SHIV that has been made more compact, with it's weapons centrally located. It's primary armament is a variation of the N7 Typhoon, bearing a comparable under-slung rocket launcher, kinetic-rail system, and laser system. The chassis' shape has been compared to 2nd contact war Seekers, however it only has two tentacles, which are normally retracted and extend from the front. Each tentacle has two smaller branches near the end to assist in manipulation.

SHIV's can be remote-controlled through Mind-Tap in addition to the normal controls, either directly or indirectly in conjunction with automation. Direct control can be done individually but is incredibly difficult due to the dissimilar form, and when done in conjunction with automation, it is similar to having the interfaces for standard remote control contained within one's mind, cutting eyes and reaction time delays out of the situation. MEC's can also be remote controlled and automated similarly to SHIVs, though rarely are used as drones. However, skilled Drone operators often cross-train in MEC piloting, utilising Atlas' to simultaneously provide indirect Mind-Tap control, using the VR environment both to fight and control the drones.

**MEC Chassis:**

\- Able: The Alliance's standard MEC, being highly modular and bearing armor comparable to heavy tanks due to it's Firaxite construction. It normally comes with Jump-Jets, two shoulder mounted light weapons, a flamethrower on it's left hand, and an hydraulic 'power-fist' on it's right. The Able normally wields either a scaled up Typhoon or Cain. The Able got it's name from a statement of it's head manufacturer: 'Give it 5 minutes, it's store of Omni-Gel, the use of it's on-board Omni-Factory, a trained operator, and it's able to take on anything."

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\- Hercules: The Alliance's Heavy MEC, notable for it's use of a sealed pod with VR instead of an Mind-Tap. This MEC was originally made to contain Muton soldiers and bears much more armor than any other class, and has much more in the way of artificial muscle and hydraulics, as well as a much heavier shield. In terms of firepower it's equal to the Able, however it lacks Jump-Jet's, having to make do with hydraulic leaps and lightened mass from its Eezo core. The Hercules got it's name from the statement: 'It's a smaller Atlas made for heroes. And which Hero took Atlas' place?"

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\- Preacher: The Alliance's stealth MEC. The missionary is a much smaller MEC than it's two brothers, but has a stealth coating and is made from stealth plating. It lacks the modularity of the Able, and it's only secondary weapon is a built in plasma-channel and Omni-Channel, the latter is used to launch missiles and drones produced from it's on-board Omni-Factory. It does have limited jump capability however it's rarely used due to the noise produced. The Preacher got it's name from a detractors statement: 'It goes around whispering to others, than hides behind the real fighters like a preacher.'

It's commonly said that the reply was 'Yes. It's whisper's death, and it's followers are whipped into a frenzy by it's sermon, fire support.'

* * *

**AN: **

Before someone comments on how modular the weapons are [Replace the normal kinetic section with a laser or particle beam? What?] I'd like to note that based off ME 1, you could, between battles, change your weapon from a pulse laser [Cryo Ammo.] and particle beam [Disrupter Ammo.].

Yea… Being modular enough to change before battle? Chalk it up to all being the same-ish casing and omni-fabricators if you want.

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Also, a quick note as to Particle and Plasma Weapons:

They are in essence the same thing. Particle weapons are just Plasma weapons that create a directed beam of ions or atomised ferrous metals instead of a burst of plasma [Which is ions accompanied by electrons] inside a traveling magnetic containment mechanism. Plasma weapons are blocked by shields normally due to their increased mass being a burst, while the speed doesn't quite give the KE to the particle beam the size does to the Plasma.

As for how they bypass and drain kinetic barriers? The electrical charge they leave before the suit tells the Shields to turn on due to being damaged by a particle riffle imparts the armour with a massive electric charge as well as lots of heat. This damages the KB's emitters slightly. Additionally, once the KB turns on to protect it's wearer, it does flawlessly, as particle beams are far too light… But this is at the cost of staying on full constantly, and in my rendition of the MEverse, kinetic barriers shut down because they have to or they cook the wearer and the system, not because you overpowered them with a single high powered shot [Thus, explaining the shield gate.].

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Oh, someone's going to ask about Matriach M'Kol. I'll tell you now that you'll get told later instead of when you ask.


	7. Excerpts: Knights of Humanity

**Knights of Humanity**

_"If the divine is real unlike we refute, than these are those that show the existence of the gods of war. The modern Bellona and Athena. The soldiers who stand head and shoulders above all. These are the recipients of a exclusive Knighthood, the Knights of Humanity."_

Blog excerpts, used as an introduction to skilled soldiers in the Alliance actively operating in Citadel Space who are too well known publicly to attack.

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**The Man of Firaxite**

_"I did not ask for this. But who could refuse the offer to continue to assist their species in their darkest hour? Who would let a simple plasma bolt prevent them from fighting against their extinction?"_

One of 3 Second Contact war veterans still alive in Citadel space, Adam Jenson joined X-Com from the Chinese special forces in it's opening years…

When offered the opportunity to have a cybernetic body at the cost of still having to fight if able, Adam leapt at the chance. Even coming back from becoming a quadriplegic in a limited fashion would be more than anyone else could offer, and he had a burning desire to continue to fight against the invaders…

Fitted with the first fully cybernetic body, Adam also piloted the first MEC into combat, though trained as a combat sniper he took quickly to providing heavy fire support in addition to the mission changing bullet. Using built in missiles, grenade launchers, and a variety of other weapons.

When Humanity began to turn on himself, his mother's European values drove him to defect from the Chinese military to join the Australian defence force, where his knowledge of Asia's highly mechanised tactics proved to be a massive boon, allowing Australia to survive Asia's attacks until the Pan-Asian Cooperative was forced to focus it's efforts on defending itself from the South American Union…

Kept alive by his extensive Cybernetics, Adam Jenson's frame is literally made of Firaxite scavenged from the Second Contact War, and has handed over the reins of the Jenson family to act as the families Knight Commander.

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**The Repentent**

_"[The Ethereals] forgot we have eyes with which to see."_

_"The new EXALT? No, such is Cerberus, we don't work with aliens while fighting for humanity. But if you would call us such."_

The Triad's liaison to Exalt, Shaojie 'Chilong' Zhang, Zhang contacte X-Com after the destruction of X having realised that the object he was supposed to drop off was a similar alien device to that his friend was ordered to deliver…

Throughout the war, Zhang proved a skilled soldier, and the intel he provided on Exalt cells allowed them to quickly be rooted out and removed from the equation, much to Durand's appreciation, and is one of 3 Second Contact war veterans still alive in Citadel space…

During humanities civil war, Zhang left X-Com in disgust heading to Europe before disappearing for a time, disappearing until the third contact war where he re-enlisted, joining Cerberus and fighting on the front lines…

With the declaration of peace, Zhang once again left, and has been sighted working with the new iteration of the EXALT terrorist group, now made of xenophobes. This has created numerous conspiracy theories as to it's ties with the Alliance. Zhang is one of the few people who have Alliance military grade MELD enhancements, which were created after the Second Contact War, among the benefits of which is a vastly extended lifespan.

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**Black Flag**

_"If I'm a living jinx, then I'm one for my foe as well. It might go wrong, but it'll get done."_

John Rofriguez is among the finest commanders in the Alliance… In theory.

Born on Mindoir, suffering sevre injury when a practice weapon turned out to be live, accidentally caught in an Exalt Thresher trap on Akuze, those are just what's on public record, John got the nickname 'Black Flag' for his shows of incredibly bad luck…

However he's foiled more terrorist plots and major criminals by chance than most have deliberately, and has never failed a single mission, and over the course of his career has suffered wounds that would be considered mortal to most krogan only to walk away with the bare minimum in cybernetic augmentation…

While a skilled commander, John is known to prefer small groups of extremely skilled soldiers (_'They survive my luck.'_) or lower ranking soldiers providing fire support (_'Far enough to help, far enough to survive.'_).

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**The Lion of Elysium**

_"I merely fought for their chance, as another fought for my chance. And I will continue to fight for [The Alliances] chances, wherever I'm needed."_

Sara Ying Leah, first a sex slave and then a street thug on Earth, was inducted into the Penal legions after destroying the 10th Street Reds when given an order to Capture Captain Anderson [Then Lieutenant] after he assisted her fend off an attack from the Path of Lho gang…

Sara is often compared to Black Flag, her skill in small unit tactics and 'overtraining' in other areas has some consider the two the best non-flag commanders in the Alliance.

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**The Shield of Haven**

_"You were my salvation. How can I not offer the same."_

An African born 'Adoptist' Muton, Jane Aeducan Doe [Prefering the name of Aeducan.] served an 'NA Tour' at age 17, and was on watch when a panicked call came from the hidden town named Farnham's Freehold, a town formed of the survivors of NA that went into hiding after it's nuclear Armageddon. Chryssalid's were sighted on approach, and his unit would be the only to be able to get there in time, responding quickly, her unit arrived just minutes before the onslaught, and were unable to properly reinforce their positions as they had to prevent the survivors from attacking the Muton compliment. An hour into the gruelling assault, an additional distress signal came from nearby, claiming to be from the town of Haven…

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During a lull in the conflict, Aeducan lead a group of Muton volunteers volunteered to assist Haven, and were allowed to run to their assistance by the CO. This time, they arrived 12 minutes before the first wave, but were exhausted by almost two hours of running and fighting…

Near the beginning of the battle, Aeducan was forced into CQC with a group of Chrysallids, and had an egg implanted into her leg, which she immediately removed with a plasma bolt, continuing to fight and rally the survivors from a seated position…

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Following her joining of the Alliance proper, Aeducan has displayed nearly unparalleled skill at ground command, has trained in tactics from all over the galaxy, and is the only Muton to have risen to Noble rank. His land grant was rather small as his request, being ownership of the land containing his old base, Haven and Farnham's Freehold, though he does little in the way of actual ruling beyond managing the defences, organising terraforming efforts, and launching various exploration when on leave missions in areas likely to contain other townships, having found one thus far, leaving the area mostly to the command of the highest ranking commander present and the mayors of the two towns.

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**Steel Wall**

_"All Ships, prepare to remind these fools why we haven't lost a single war with an alien foe."_

An Australian Aborigional, Kyeema Aranta was born to a military family of little note, entering flight school at 18 to the surprise of her parents who had tried to direct her towards engineering…

Rating Second in almost every simulation thrown at her as she trained alongside the renowned pilot Jeff 'Joker' Moreau , Kyeema through herself towards command and military history…

Kyeema proved herself in the orbital defence of Sanctum, being captain of the night watch her patrol was engaged by a larger pirate fleet. Holding the fight for half an hour taking heavy damage to a handful of ships in exchange for light damage to almost the entire pirate fleet, the sent her damaged vessels to ambush positions over Sanctum before leading the now overconfident fleet into the trap, where surprise and laser weapons prevented the escape of all but 2 frigates, and not a single ship on her side was destroyed. Additionally, most of the pirate ships were captured, having to surrender unless they wished to crash on Sanctum as a result of having their engines destroyed and being stuck drifting…

Over the course of subsequent battles, Kyeema has proven herself to be a skilled space commander, particularly on the defensive…

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**The Butcher**

_"I did what had to be done, as did every man and woman under my command. They did The Alliance and Cerberus proud, and like all other commanders from Alliance and Cerberus, I will remember each face and each sacrifice, and I shall mourn. But I shall remember their choice, and why they made it. Who are you to sully that choice?"_

Alexandrea Shepard, child of Hannah Shepard (The current heir to the Shepard family), Aleandrea grew up aboard star ships and space stations early in her childhood…

… Shepard is occasionally compared to Black Flag and The Lion in skill, however due to Torfan she's rarely seen in a positive light.

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**AN:** Some might ask who is the third surviving Second Contact War veteran. Who was Aleandrea complaining about not having the chance to train with before?

I'll save you some time. Anhern.

He was allowed to keep his genetic modifications, with the restrictions of being unable to breed, and having to remain outside of positions of power, as well as not fighting for the Alliance. Now, he's a military advisor, and trains the biggest badasses in Alliance space. In theory, he has no political power, but he has lots of pull with those that do.

Aleandrea's section is extremely short because I have a chapter on her in my main story. Sara's section is also short, because she's basically the Premiseverse Shepard.

This also covers Aleandrea's competition, Adam said no, Zhang is currently considered a terrorist, that left The Lion, The Black Flag, The Butcher, The Shield, and Steel Wall. The Shield is a Muton and so isn't going to be the first 'Human' spectre, The Lion didn't get a chance due to her relationship with Anderson, The Black flag is someone they try to keep away from important stuff excluding his being assigned to chase after Exalt where possible. Finally Steel Wall has limited ground experience, and they weren't about to part with a fleet, getting a ship at all cost so much political capitol you wouldn't believe.

And if you think the Council was going to let Anhern be a Spectre, you may just be drunk. As for his previous squad, after Anderson was given a no, they decided to try for someone younger.

I may create a 'Important Persons' 'story' that's longer STG reports, that will be this in more detail with additional characters.


	8. Excerpts: Human-Xeno MuShi Relations

**Human-Xeno Interactions, Second Contact War onwards.**

**Blog Excerpt, Focus: Human-Shigian/Muton interaction.**

One would expect, given constant alien invasions, centuries of constant warfare and the institution of a caste system to be signifiers that Humanity is a rather aggressive and controlling race, and that such would carry over to their interaction with other races.

Fortunately for us, they're not the Krogan with pointier sticks and a lower birth rate.

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While Humanity can very easily be rallied against an 'Other' by dint of their psychology, for the most part Humanity has learned from their history of prosecution within their own race and apply what they've learned to their dealings with other races and their caste system.

Humanities caste system is incredibly fluid within the Noble and Common tiers, with only the Criminal teirs and the barrier between Noble and Common being Rigid. While Alien races seem barred from the nobility, such is only due to a combination of convention, and the desire to make sure that the nobility was very publicly Human after the Second Contact war. At present entry to the nobility requires supreme sacrifice, innovation, or an act of exceptional bravery, the former two have yet to be performed and so acclaimed by the much smaller percentage of aliens, and the process for becoming a noble through an act of bravery, normally performed in the military, calls for truly exceptional standards. For example, after the defence of Elysium, Sara-Ying Leah was considered for entry into the nobility.

Her action? Saving an entire colony from a pirate raid, holding the line with a small group of civilian volunteers until reinforcements could arrive, being the last survivor of the defending forces. Of the other defenders two were considered for posthumous entry, one of which was the civilian Muton Borris Gad'na. With no one to speak on his behalf, the gesture was almost withdrawn before Sara-Ying spoke for him and his bravery. Being the last of his line, all this amounted to was a Memorial statue and the funds he would have gotten being directed towards Mutons serving in the Alliance and survivors of the raid on Elysium.

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As one can see, this shows why aliens within the Alliance haven't risen to the nobility in number, however within the common ranks they do well. Something easily seen when watching Human interactions with Shigians [Who are still called 'Thin-Men' most commonly.] and Mutons.

Shigians were returned to their original form, as they could remember it, using MELD treatments after the Second Contact War. Due to their invaluable help after turning on the Ethereals, they were largely given free rein in the territory they were given, albeit having wages garnished in reparation. Shigians at the time were treated just better than Asian civilians in the immediate aftermath by human civilians when encountered, however they were treated with near deference by scientists and Special Forces operators, who they worked alongside with their skills and knowledge to turn the tide.

In modern times, the perception that they were being used as tools and slaves, forced to give up what lives they could have eked out to fake human ones has garnered them some level of sympathy. Having lived alongside humans so long, they've entered much of human life, including sexuality, with their reptilian forms sometimes referred to as having an 'exotic beauty'. Drell were for a time jokingly referred to as foreign knockoffs of Shigians.

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Muton's, unlike Shigian's were late to turn against the Ethereals, needing to be captured [Often at great difficulty], then have Mind-Shields implanted against their will, and then could only communicate through Shigian intermediaries. Once that was done however, they proved exceedingly loyal, and their knowledge of tactics and weaponry helped immensely, they often served on the front line as living artillery, wearing almost as much armor as MECs, offering a highly visible presence fighting the Ethereal forces. This, combined with the near complete loss of their culture and no memory of their previous form created mixed feelings among civilians. On one hand, they are the other, and the aggressor, yet those that attack are slaves, and those that defended them were among their staunchest defenders.

Due to the language barriers, later defection, and their lower strategic value, Muton's originally had to live in Shigian colonies and had heavier reparations to repay, though they were assisted in rebuilding what little bits of their culture they could where possible. However, many instead took to adopting Human culture, and the efforts of such Muton's have garnered a rather good opinion of the race, having achieved the rank of 'Honorary Humans', achieving higher standing among the population than Asari and Shigians despite what many claim to be their lesser value.

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**AN: **And there you go, Human - Thin-Man - Muton relations.


End file.
